Happy Birthday to Amurrica/My Blog

While I was at the July 4th Parade in my town--And by that I mean strolled out my front door in my pajamas  with my high fiber cereal--I became aware that I had a similar running commentary in my head about the various parts of the parade as I did last year. Why does this matter? Because I have an increase in running commentary in my head when I'm thinking about blogging about something.

Then it hit me; I've had this blog for at least one year and I probably missed it's Birthday! Indeed, upon inspection, my blog was birthed on June 5th, 2010 ("Calisthenics in Coolidge Woods"), making this a one-month belated Birthday retrospective.

The blog entry about July 4th, 2010 ("Bang(s) goes the Fourth") actually didn't cover the parade as much as I thought I would have, and therefore I will briefly cover this year's parade before diving into my self-indulgent tribute.

By brief I mean I will break each segment of the parade into my Favorites and Not Favorites:

Favorites:

Floats with steel drum bands

Floats with old man bands

Floats representing organic farms

Unicyclists

Yo Gabba Gabba and Hello Kitty

Super heroes

Free masons racing around each other in motorized mini trucks

A hearse

Sassy little vintage cars

Not Favorites:

The many fire trucks blaring their sirens for over 15 minutes

So many fire trucks

Politicians. Do not care.

Mixed Feelings:

Horses in general, not favorite.

Horses with braided hair, favorite.

Clowns, favorite.

Clowns dancing with bystanders, not favorite.

Lady dancers. Mixed feelings.

Now, on to my Birthday party. I will update you on how my life is the same or different by following up on some of my favorite blog entries of seasons past.

October 28, 2010: "$6 is a great deal": Amy and I hike Mt. Monadnock on a blustery Autumn day. Since then, Amy and I have been impatiently waiting for another Monadnock hike but as the weather gets warmer, the busier our schedules get. However, we will be able to sneak in a hike THIS COMING SUNDAY before she leaves on a trip. A significant change, however, is that a) I now own hiking boots b) my husband will be coming c) Adam and I are using this as a practice for our trip to the Alps in August. Amy has thoughtfully allowed Adam to be included in our adventure. Unfortunately, Adam doesn't eat PB and J and therefore will starve because Amy and I won't be packing him any snacks.

July 3, 2010: "Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose": Adam and I take an awkward and hideous stool that had been placed with a "free" sign at the end of our neighbor's driveway and turn it into a nifty little shelf for plants. The follow-up is that we will soon be having our own yard sale because we are moving at the end of August. Our yard sale is going to be totally sick and we will be selling my shoes, his clothes, barely used toys, a set of knives, and much much more! July 30-31!! BE THERE. Unfortunately, I've become money-crazy and am attempting to accumulate stuff from parents and friends to sell at my yard sale, which will ultimately lead to acquiring more things than we already have when they fail to sell.

August 28, 2010: "Raindrops on roses, harnesses on kittens": Our first-born (now age 3), Nuni, is taken for a walk on her harness and enjoys her life. Update: Nuni no longer enjoys her life as a result of this little ball of terror

We only have pictures of her sleeping because all other pictures are inevitably full of movement and blurry

Despite the well-pace introduction (January 17, 2011: "Cat intro Stage One"), Beatrix's personality is jovial, easily-excited, and bordering on hyper-active. Nuni, on the other hand, is serene, stand-offish, and prissy. A day WILL NEVER, I repeat, Never, come that these two will love each other. Correction--Beatrix loves everything and Nuni will never love Beatrix.

So what have we learned today? I'm moving out of Natick, meaning there will be new pizza places to tour (October 18, 2010) and new nature paths to walk (October 6, 2010). I'm going on a big trip to Europe meaning there will be more restaurants to review (June 10, 2010) and cultural experiences to degrade (June 11, 2011). And finally, I still have the same friends as always so I will continue to hike Mt. Monadnock (October 28, 2010), paint pottery (July 24, 2010, June 11, 2011), and eat in nice restaurants (August 21, 2010).